what is Rio Tinto expecting from the Johannesburg meeting next year?
I think the purpose of the Johannesburg conference is just beginning to unfold, but we are planning for it as part of the GMI, which is intended as the mining industry contribution to that conference. The draft report of the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development project, which is part of the GMI, is due out in December 2001. The final draft is due out in a few months time. Then there’s an industry conference in Toronto in May 2002. The outcome from that will be a crystallisation of the contribution our industry will be making to the Johannesburg conference itself. How do you see society’s expectations as regards corporate behaviour changing over the next five years – and how will that effect a company like Rio Tinto? I have no doubt that society’s expectations of industry and particularly multinational companies are going to continue to increase. There’s a very clear demand for increasing transparency and I hope and believe that we have responded very positively to that challeng
